Getting a UK Youth Mobility Visa for Canadians

About This Guide

This is a step-by-step guide to applying for a Tier 5 YMS visa for the UK, while located outside the UK.

If you’re reading this post, I suspect you’re considering or are in the process of applying for your Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa for the United Kingdom. Welcome! Before we get started, please have a look at my Disclaimer page.

Last Updated: 10 June 2017

The Essential Youth Mobility Visa Handbook

Why waste time sifting through 10 different resources when you can get it all in one place? The Essential Youth Mobility Visa Handbook: Everything Canadians Need to Know about Getting the Visa and Moving to the UK contains 56 pages of useful information that will help you make your dream of moving abroad a reality! Get it now!

Eligibility

Canadian Citizen

Age 18-30 (you can apply at 17, but you must be 18 on or before the visa start date; you can move to UK at 31, as long as you were 30 on the date of the application)

No dependents (children under 18 either living with you or for whom you are financially responsible)

A minimum of the equivalent £1890 (~ $3245 as of June 2017) in your bank account

Must not be currently residing in the UK

You can apply for this visa if you are not in Canada, as long as you have been in that country for at least six months with a long-term visa and there is a UK Border Agency where you can have a biometric appointment. For example, you are in Australia on the working holiday scheme for one year, then you may apply from Australia and attend your biometric appointment in Sydney.

British High Commission in Ottawa | Photo courtesy of ukincanada

How to Apply for the UK Youth Mobility Visa in Canada

This Official Guidance Document will give you information on all of the requirements for your documents as well as the limitations on the work you may do. Read it twice, if not three times.

Steps

Gather the information needed and fill out the application. If you run into information you don’t have – don’t lie! Save the form and get it, or tell the truth (e.g. you lost it, you don’t know, etc.). Make sure your name is filled out exactly as it appears on your passport. I failed to put my middle names on the application, which I was able to amend at my appointment.

Fill out the intended date of arrival as accurately as possible. The vignette you receive in your passport is only an entry visa, so you must enter the UK within 30 days of that date or apply for a transfer of visa. See the FAQ for details on the Biometric Residence Permit and the temporary vignette.

For the international trips – visiting the USA counts even though there may be no stamps in your passport if you went by car. Put the trips you remember and explain in the comments section at the end of the application. If you forget a trip, don’t sweat! Just mention it in your appointment.

Make the payment. The fee for this visa is £230. It is charged in USD because the visa processing office is in New York.

You will be directed to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is £300. You must complete the payment and return to the application page within 30 minutes. This link has all of the documents you will need to hand to make the payment.

Print out your completed application. Confirm all the information is correct and sign and date where necessary. Write your IHS number on the front page.

You will be directed to the VFS Global website to book an appointment at their office in Toronto. Choose the date and time that is convenient for you. If you are not in Toronto, other offices include User Pay Offices in Edmonton, St John’s, Vancouver, Halifax and Ottawa.* There is a $100 USD fee to use these Offices. Print out the appointment confirmation notice.

** Halifax and St John’s User Pay Offices are only open one or two days a month. Be sure to take this into account when applying. **

The Visa Appointment

I should point out that this is officially what is required – I do not have experience with the VFS Global application service, as I used a Worldbridge office when I applied. Please refer to the comments if you would like to know about other people’s experiences with VFS Global.

What You Need:

When you attend your appointment, you should bring:

Information and Documents

Current passport and all previous passports (if you have them). It needs to be valid for at least 6 months but your BRP card will be your permanent visa (so you have to keep it on you at all times!).

Proof of funds dated within 30 days prior to the date of application. Refer to the Official Guidance Document above for specifics. For this visa, you need to have the minimum maintenance amount on or anytime within the 30 days before the date of application. Here are some examples of what this means:

A hard copy bank statement showing the balance received before your application (no older than a month);

A letter from your bank on official letterheadstating your balance on the date of your application;

A print-out of your bank summary from the date of your application showing your balance with an official stamp from your bank.

This is the same kind of Account Summary I had printed BEFORE I applied for the YMS visa. Note the stamp and signature from the bank.

The date of application is the date you paid the fee to the UKBA. Maintenance funds required is £1890 (Canadian Dollar amount is calculated using the rate of exchange from the date of your application). My accounts were a chequing account and my TFSA. You must have access to these funds in cash, i.e. they cannot be held in stocks, assets, or credit cards. Lines of credit and joint bank accounts are okay.

You no longer require a passport photo as VFS global now takes it. Be sure to double check if you are applying outside of Canada.

Print out of your application form (should be available when the application is complete), signed and dated.

Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) Number

Your hand and your face

Steps

Arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled appoint to check-in. Someone at the desk will verify you have all the required documents. If you don’t they may have them on hand but you can be asked to come back. The person at the desk will put them in a folder and give you a number. If you have any last-minute questions, the manager can advise you on your application.

Sit and wait for your number. Watch the “Visit Britain” video they play on repeat. (I can not confirm that they have these videos at the VFS Global locations 🙂 ) You are not allowed to have any electronics, food or drink. Also, don’t leave your bag unattended – they will treat it as a bomb threat and evacuate the building which almost happened when some guy left his bag on a chair for 20 minutes.

When your number is called, you will go see an agent who will look at your documents and then put them in a DHL bag to be mailed to New York. Yes, it’s silly that Canadians get their British visas processed in America…but you know. Budget cuts?

You have the option of picking up your visa in the office in Toronto or having it delivered to you for US $37. I decided to have it mailed. You can also have someone else pick it up for you with an authorization letter.

Sit and wait again. Become British by osmosis. Your number will the called by the person at the desk and your photograph and biometric data will be taken. They scan your fingerprints and take a picture.

You are now free to go!

7 Days Later…

UK Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa!

From applying online to receiving my passport with the vignette, it took a total of 15 days. I applied on a Tuesday, had my appointment the following Wednesday, and had my passports returned to me the week after that on Thursday. I thought this was a pretty fast turn-around, though once I got to the visa stage for my French work permits, it took about a week as well.

The visa processing office in New York sends you an e-mail when they receive your documents and then once the visa has been issued (and presumably if you are rejected).

932 thoughts on “Getting a UK Youth Mobility Visa for Canadians”

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I applied for the visa after reading the guidelines and your blog (which is really helpful!) and came to a dead end.

I have booked an appointment etc got an interview date in Toronto and paid all the fees for the health surcharge, however the last part of the checklist page on the UK visa website is asking me to go to their commercial partner page, which takes me to VFS global.

I have booked a date and time, and paid the fees, what needs to be done on this website please?

That’s the only place you need to book your appointment (UK immigration website). I thought I needed to go more on the VFS page but I got my appointment date/time and already paid. So, nothing else. I do HIGHLY recommend downloading the checklist from the VFS page , filling that out and bring it with you. I wasn’t aware they needed this until I got to my appointment. The security guard asked me if I had it and I assumed he meant the confirmation email where it lists everything I needed to bring but learned that wasn’t the right check list. They need it in order to ship out your supporting documents. This is the checklist they needed: https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/Canada/pdf/Checklist_Photo_Update_050416.pdf

Did someone help you with this? You need to provide the address in which you plan to stay in the UK. You can simply use the hotel/hostel (if that’s where you’re staying). The site will generate the closest post office to send your biometrics to. Hope that helps!

Hey Freshyellow, I’m helping someone out with the research for this Visa (this blog is incredible), and I was just wondering something about the finance aspect of it. Besides the fees we have to pay (health surcharge etc), it says here that we must have GBP 1890.00 in the account for a month or more. My question is, what is the real price of the Visa? does it come out only to the total of the fees, and this amount that stays in the bank is just to prove that you have enough funds to maintain yourself? Or at some point do they charge you GBP 1890.00 on top of the fees paid before application?

I submitted on march 13th. visa appointment in Toronto was march 16th. I got a text that it was in New York the next day. I got my acceptance email on March 28th. It was available for pick up on March 29. So two weeks after I submitted online. Hope that helps!

Thanks Yellowfresh! I received an email on the 21st that it arrived in New York and it’s been 9 business days already but I still haven’t heard anything back so I am starting to get worried. Most comment/blogs say that they get a notice back within 1 week even thought the website says 15 days…. I am very anxious right now >.<

I am wondering if you have to drop off your passport. I travel for my current job and we are on the road 250 days a year and travel outside of Canada often. I had scheduled my original appointment for this Thursday, but will be traveling on Monday. Do you know if they make any exceptions.

Also, most of my savings are in mu RRSP, do you know if that is ok? I can take that money out if I need it, but will pay taxes on it.

Hi Alyssa and everyone else,
Thanks so much for this blog, it truly has been a life safer for me!! I’ve got the visa letter and 30 day vignette but I’m afraid I cant make it to the UK in those 30 days. I’ve read on your site that you then must apply for a visa transfer on the visa4uk website. I’ve gone there and im a bit confused, it takes you right into the full visa application form again and I can’t find anywhere to navigate to request a visa transfer. Help please if anyone has had this experience before?

One other quick question, so you don’t get an actual visa in a passport correct? There is just the vignette and then a BRP card that you get in the UK?
Thank you soooo much!!!

Your blog post is amazing. my question is concerning the maintenance funds.
are they looking at the balance on that day only (date of application)
or are they looking to see if you had the funds in your account for a particular time?

Prime time appointments are appointments that are usually before work – most people work at 9 am kinda deal so you’re paying for convenience of getting in before a work day or after. The meaning Is literally just that- prime time. Best times lol. I went at 1:30 in the afternoon. Was in and out in 30 mins if that

Hello,
I just want to say it’s so nice to know there’s someone here to walks us through it. I’m currently looking into moving to the uk so this is so helpful.

If I could know roughly how much the whole process is that would be great. Also what kind of bank account do you need? Do you need to register a certain kind of account? And are you not allowed to touch those funds at all or what’s the purpose of those funds.

Hey Vanessa, I applied on April 22nd and had to pay $390 USD for the IHS surcharge (so that’s about 300£) and $370 USD for the visa fee itself including the service fees for using the VFS Global visa application centre in Ottawa. So that came to $1063 CAD. As for bank accounts I have a regular personnal chequing account and a savings account. I had more than the amount they require (1890£) in each account so I knew I was ok. I went to my bank on April 29th and had them print me a statement showing both accounts as of that date. I brought that to my appointment on May 3rd and this morning I got an email saying my visa application was successful and they were sending my passport back to me.

From what I understand you can touch those funds after you apply, they just wanna make sure you have enough money to support yourself when you get to the UK until you find a job there. Might be a good idea to still have enough money until you actually get over there though, just in case they check when you enter the country. Hope that helps! 🙂

Hello, It has been 14 business days and i have not heard back yet about my visa…. Is this normal? I have applied in Ireland ( since i am traveling here) and my visa for here expires in one week…. and I still do not have my passport back or a answer on my UK visa, Any thoughts on what to do?

Hey Shayna!
I am in the same boat. I live in Madrid and had my visa appointment on May 12th. It has been a full 15 business days and I am getting worried! Maybe because we are applying from abroad it takes a bit longer for them to confirm our permission to be here? Have you got your visa now? I hope to hear back this week!

Curious to ask if there were any people who are applying/applied at Age 30 and the experience they had moving to London. I haven’t seen too much people going for the youth visa at this age and just wanted to hear any insights/dilemma,struggles of leaving an established career to move to London.

Any experiences and tips shared would be much appreciated for the later age individuals :).

Hey Will! I’m in the same position, I’m planning to apply while 30 before my 31st birthday. Obviously this visa is geared towards the younger age since you most likely wouldn’t have much commitment yet and could pick up and move more easily. But I’m finding, now that I’m about to turn 30, that this is a great age to go on this kind of adventure as well m, and still don’t have those major commitments (I also didn’t find out about the visa until I was 29 so there’s that haha.)

I studied abroad in my youth and now look back and want to go back to all those places and do it “the nicer and less cheap way” at this age so I think this is the perfect opportunity. I’m lucky to have landed a remote work job recently that I’m taking over so that relieves pressure in that respect, but I think it will be an eye opening and memorable experience nevertheless! Before landing that job, I was going to leave my established career working in a university and was looking at this opportunity to do something off beat for work: thinking coffee barista, working in little shops, dog walking! It was going to be great to land something related to my career, but was willing to forego that if it didn’t come through.

Don’t know how helpful that is but those are just my thoughts; been stewing on this visa for a few months now and will be pulling the trigger in a couple months here. Best of luck!

Hey Lauren – thank you so much for sharing. Sounds like we are in the same stage in life and it’s great to hear that there are other people embarking on this journey while they are 30. I was beginning to think I was the only one. I’m about to turn 30 as well and was thinking that if I don’t do this now – the opportunity probably won’t ever come again.

Congratulations on landing a remote job! I was thinking of the worst case scenario about working at something unrelated to my field but London rent seems ridiculous… and I live in Vancouver already. I guess this might be hindsight but did you think about the housing situation in this sense?

Thank you again for sharing your experiences/thoughts. I’ve been thinking about the visa process for a while but thinking I will probably pull the trigger later this fall. Good luck!

You’re definitely not alone and I absolutely agree that this is a rare opportunity for an adventure that will simply expire if you don’t seize it. There’s a lot of unknowns, but it’s a calculated risk.

Thank you! Before landing this job, I had a contingency plan for saving as big of a budget cushion as I could with my previous job in the event that I don’t land a job quickly enough/a job that isn’t as lucrative as I needed it to be that I could simply burn through/use to buy more time. I imagined that it would give me some buffer time while looking for something more livable, but it was definitely not an ideal situation. I was also planning to look for work a couple months ahead of my actual leave date so that I could potentially have some/an opportunity cooking or even secured (with full disclosure that I was providing my own visa hopefully as leverage for that employer). This remote job literally landed in my lap through a previous colleague and seemed to be a stars aligning situation, but that was my initial plan before landing it!

I definitely understand the cost-of-living issue: I’m in Southern California (not easy itself) and my Canadian family is in Vancouver so the crazy housing market is top of mind! I’m lucky in the sense that my sister is living in London at the moment and I am considering crashing with her for the first few weeks to get my bearings, but I’ve been encouraged doing some initial flat searches/open room in house shares on rightmove and spareroom for what rent is going for in a decent area of decent quality (my standard of living is modest (I can do without brand new appliances, for example), but I’m also not going to risk life and limb for a really good rent) I’m finding that what I would consider a good option is on par or even a cost savings compared to my rent in Orange County. Ideally I would afford my own place, but I also don’t want to burn through all my earnings. I trying to look at having housemates as a good way to have natural socialization too, meet new people more easily etc etc. I’m sorry, this has turned rambly! Just a lot of train of thought of my strategy.

Hi Trish,
I was in the same boat, submitted two weeks ago, approved on Thursday. I was missing my passport with my former UK student visa and a lot of travel stamps in it. I just made sure to list all of my travel dates, locations, etc. as it asks on the application. Best of luck!

I’ve been reading the blog since last autumn and it has not only helped me through the very confusing application process, but it has also been a source of encouragement when I was tired of working 60+ hours a week to save. Just got approved and leaving Toronto for the UK in September, something I have been dreaming about for years. Thank you so much!

Hey everyone!
First off, I just want to thank you, Alyssa, for taking the time to not only compose a blog about your experience with this, but for also keeping it updated years later and still responding to people’s questions! It has honestly been so helpful, and made the whole process very easy. 🙂

Secondly, I thought I would share my experience, or at least add one thing that may have not been mentioned. As Alyssa did, I applied in Toronto (Last month. Whole process for me took exactly one week, from going to Toronto for my appointment, having my passport sent off to New York, and having my passport sent back to me 🙂 )

The one thing I was really freaking out about though were my documents! Omg did I have bad anxiety, worrying if the ones I provided were “legit enough”. XD I had these doubts because my bank refused to print me off a bank statement and stamp it for me (no idea really why, tbh). I’m with TD Canada Trust, and they stopped sending me paper statements in the mail and recently moved all of my statements to “online only” . I was freaking out because everywhere in the documents provided part of the application, they tell you to provide ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS ONLY. My only option was to print off my bank statements from home. I thought ” I can’t submit these! They are print offs. Surely I need them to be stamped and signed by my bank!” When my bank refused, they said the best they could do was print off a summary of my account, and stamp and sign that. So I took that summary along with me to my appointment, and explained my situation to the officer. To my relief, she told me that as long as I have one original document stamped by the bank, any print offs accompanying it would be considered valid. I just thought I would mention that in case any one else has gone paperless and were worrying about having “original” bank statements! 🙂 Also! The bank stamp on my account summary was also dated about a week after I had submitted my application, so you don’t necessarily have to go before you apply (though in hindsight, I would do it before just to be safe)

Anyway, thats just my two cents to add! Hope it was helpful! I am off to the UK on August 15th! 😀

Hi! I just submitted my application for the Youth Mobility Visa (I’m from Canada), and I misread the bank statement thing saying it needs to be dated before or on your application date. I was going to go to the bank on Monday (when it opens) to get this statement, and does anybody know if the bank will print off a statement dated for the Saturday (July 15) if its a Monday (July 17)???? S.O.S.

Hi all,
Thank you so much alyssa for the post!But i was wondering whether there is a ballot system for Canadians to apply or is there any date constraints for the application?
Can’t seem to find it anywhere on the website and I am so worried that the quota would be used up:(

First of all thank you so much Alyssa for this post! It really helped me understand a lot more about the procedure of the process!

However, I was wondering whether there is a ballot system for the application..? And if so when is the opening dates? As I was trying to look for it in the website, and even tried calling the UKBA…and still couldn’t really find an answer to it.

I am hoping to apply for tier 5 visa in 3 weeks from Hong Kong, and would really hope to get it.. 🙁

Thank you so much again and congrats to all who managed to get it!!!!

Norine xxx

p.s. sorry if the message was duplicated as I was trying to post this earlier and I guess it didn’t go through 🙂

Hi Alyssa!
Thank you so much for all of this info! I’m just hoping to confirm – the application date is considered the day you pay the fee and submit online, NOT the date of your appointment – correct?
I’m getting real close to 31 and am making the last minute decision of applying. I’m worried that I will not have my appointment in time before my birthday, but I can definitely complete the application online and submit the payment in time.
Thanks in advance!

Hey last Wednesday I had my bio-metric appointment and got and email Thursday saying my documents had reached New York, Today is Tuesday of the following week and DHL sent me a text saying my package will arrive tomorrow by the end of the day..I didn’t get an email saying the status of my application or that is was coming back to me, only the DHL courier text.

I am currently applying for my VISA and wracking my brain for the exact places I have travelled over the last 10 years, and what exact years they were. While applying are they asking what trips I have taken in 2007/2008/2009 etc? or just in general over the last 10 years? And do they want specific cities/locations or would county (USA/England/France) be what they are looking for?

I had to document about 30 places I had been to; I used my previous passport stamps and current to piece it together, and wrote it down on a separate paper to use when it came to filling out the online form.

I believe it’s just a drop down menu for dates/year and place. it’s pretty easy, I recall using cities as that’s what’s on my stamps.

They will ask for UK travel and all other travel in separate sections.

Just put what you can remember . I think they are really only looking for suspicious travel, don’t fret just write down what you can. You hand in your passports anyways if you have all them.

I just have a quick question about the process, sorry if I missed it being discussed elsewhere.

The phrasing on the UK.gov page says ‘The earliest you can apply for a visa is 6 months before you travel’. I think i’m just being a bit stupid and misreading it. If today is the 30th August and I want to leave on 30th November I can right? It just means I can’t declare the date I want to leave as something beyond the next 6 months.

Hi – Curious to ask if any Canadians out there found it hard or difficult to find full-time/permanent employment in the business industry post brexit. I can’t tell if Brexit is making it unfavourable to move to London.

First of all, thank-you soooo much for the amazing blog posts. They are 100% more helpful than the gov.uk contact and info sites and it avoids hundreds of poeple from having to spend ridiculous amounts of money for nothing.

I have a super URGENT question: I am a PBS Tier 4 (General) Student Visa applicant and I need to use both the Super Priority Visa Service and Walk-In UPS services at the Toronto VAC together to receive my visa on time for school. Is that doable? I really need an answer ASAP, thanks !!

Super helpful post, the government sites are very tricky to understand.

I’m still having some confusion about the timeframe for applications. How much time does there need to be between the application submission and the intended travel date? I was under the impression that you need to apply 3 months ahead of your travel date – is that true?

Hi – Loving these blogs and comments. Thank you for all the guidance in the past.

I was wondering if anyone applied as a couple/married person? There were a question about if you were travelling with someone and if the other person had a valid visa. Well… we are applying together and I hope she will get a visa too (we are both under 31) so I’m not sure how to answer it…

As well, was there only a limit of 10 places you could enter where you traveled? I can’t seem to add past 10 locations but want to make sure they got my complete history. Did anyone have this problem?

Hey Wilson. I had much more travelling than 10 spaces in 10 years so i filled the most recent in the section provided and in the back of the application at the ‘additional comments’ I entered the rest. This is a few months late reply but maybe someone else might be asking the same question!

Hi, I have recently finished school in the UK and will be returning home in December, but my student visa won’t expire until end of January. Now you mentioned earlier you must not reside in the UK in order to apply, will the expiration of my student visa affect my new application for the YMV which I will apply for in December in Toronto?

I have applied with my appointment in Ottawa next week – I have the funds in my bank account currently- I applied online and paid and then went two days after to get a statement printed off and stamped etc – will that suffice for the appointment as proof of funds?

Hi,
I was about to make an appointment and I wasn’t sure if I need to submit my passport on the day of the appointment.
I will be away next weekend and I will need to use my passport. Am I right that I need to submit my passport and pick it up later?

I thought I’d write a comment on her in case anyone has come to the issue that I had.

I made a mistake on my application form (I was applying through their website – visa4uk) and only realised after I had completed it and signed the declaration. I’m currently living in New Zealand on a working holiday visa and when it asked for my resident address I (stupidly) thought it meant my address in the country I am a resident in (Canada) and not where I’m currently living (New Zealand). Because I did this, when it came to the time to book my biometrics it only gave me locations in Canada which I definitely couldn’t attend. So after I emailed them and trying to fix my address somehow they told me that it was my fault and that I must attend the appointment and there was no way of fixing it since I completed it and signed my declaration. My application went as far as booking the biometric appointment – I hadn’t paid for anything yet at this point so it hadn’t actually been sent in.

I then saw on their FAQ page that you’re able to submit a different application, but only with a different email address. My current application would then disappear after 120 days. So problem solved, if you make a mistake on the application, and before you book a biometric appointment and pay for anything, like I did – just start another application with a different email address and you’re good to go!

Hope that helps someone! Also, thanks Alyssa for writing this all out, its fantastic.

Thank you so much for all the great information. It’s helped me so much!

I’m just curious if anyone can answer my question: I turn 31 in June- do I have to submit/pay for the application online AND go for my appointment before my 31st birthday or just submit/pay before and have my appointment after my 31st birthday?

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Who am I?

I’m Alyssa — Anthropologist and Freelance Writer based in London and Barcelona! I write about Travel and Social Justice. Staff writer for TravelMag.com. Words in MSN, Bustle, the Globe and Mail, Porthole Cruise Magazine, Matador Network, and more.